ABSTRACT
The Chilean mining industry was painfully redirected toward the largest deposits where massive capital investments promised more generous profits to investors. Petorcans dreamed of attracting foreign capital, rebuilding the mines with modern technology, and installing efficient smelters. If geographical characteristics made settlement and economic growth difficult, they provide very good methodological reasons for selecting Petorca as the study site. The valley's natural geographical boundaries ensured the concentration of settlement and constant administrative limits from the first attempted founding in 1753. The geographical constraints of the Petorca Valley have been too overwhelming for administrators to defy. The evolution of property rights and settlement patterns in the Petorca Valley is remarkably similar to the developments which have been documented for a contiguous valley, the Putaendo, and the Valle del Puangue near Santiago. Farmers' families continue to exceed the available economic opportunities given present economic, social, and political conditions.
